1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices for decorating around a door, and more particularly to an innovative hanger for temporarily hanging decorations such as garlands around a door without causing damage to the door or door frame.
2. Background and Related Art
Existing methods and mechanisms for hanging decorations such as garlands on or around doors exhibit significant problems. Some hangers require screws, nails, or other fasteners to be used to attach the hangers to the door frame. When a decorating season is over, the hangers are typically removed, leaving unsightly holes in the door frame, which can also serve as locations for insects to live and/or cause additional damage. Other methods of hanging rely on adhesives such as tape to secure decorations around the door. Such methods are often unsightly while the decorations are displayed, and may leave an adhesive residue behind that further mars the appearance of the door or door frame after the decorative season.
Some existing decorative hangers rely on an over-the-door system, where a portion of the hanger extends over the top of the door. Such hangers have several problems. For instance, some decorations are difficult to use when attached to the door, as they then move with the door as the door is opened and shut, and can become trapped between the door and frame as the door is shut or are generally in the way of someone trying to pass through the doorway. Additionally, such hangers have a non-negligible thickness which is trapped between the door and the door frame when the door is closed. The space between the door and the door frame is often occupied by weather stripping or other material to prevent air leaks, insect entry, etc. when the door is closed. The presence of the door hanger in this space may make the door difficult to close, may cause the weather stripping to fail to perform as expected, and may even permanently damage the weather stripping, the door, or the door frame. Some doors simply cannot accept such hangers.
Other door-frame mounting devices fail to properly position garlands and the like around the door frame without partially occupying or blocking the doorway for those using the doorway. Still other devices require a mounting that would prevent a door from closing. While such devices work well in doorless doorways, they do not work well on an exterior doorway where the door is typically left in a closed position for safety reasons. Therefore, existing devices for hanging garlands and the like around doors fail to adequately provide a mechanism for hanging garlands and other decorations around a doorway without causing damage to the door or door frame.